Yet some statistics show that only 20 to 26 percent of small businesses have a mobile-friendly website. If your company is one of the majority that do not have a mobile website, you'll want to consider the following SEO Web Design Tips as reasons to get one.
It's Essential for Conversion Optimization
Imagine you're a consumer who is stranded on the side of the road and needs a tow truck. What do you do?If you're one of the majority of Americans who own an iPhone, Android or other smartphone device, odds are you'll turn to your mobile Internet browser and do a Google search for a local tow truck company.
Now imagine you've pulled up the local search results and you've landed on that company's website, but the site isn't mobile friendly and there is no easy way to click to call them to come to your aid. This experience for consumers is a discouraging one that more often than not will lead them to bounce off that page back to the search results in an effort to find a more mobile-friendly business.
If your business has invested in SEO to get in front of that consumer who needed your service, but you didn't have a mobile site to aid in converting them into a customer, you've just lost money.
In many ways, having a mobile-friendly website is a conversion optimization strategy for companies investing in SEO services. Had that mobile consumer landed on your mobile-friendly website and was greeted with an easy click-to-call button, the likelihood they would have converted into a sale would have been far more likely.
Your ROI Depends on it
When we discuss conversion optimization as a primary reason for needing a mobile site for your SEO strategy, we're doing so with ROI in mind. As it was mentioned above, when that user landed on your website and then exited immediately, that was a revenue producing lead that didn't convert. That obviously has a negative impact on your ROI.If you're supplementing your SEO strategy with a PPC campaign and this scenario occurred after a mobile user had clicked on one of your PPC ads and then bounced off your site, that's money right out of your pocket that also decreases the overall return you'll get for your marketing investment.
Mobile is Only Going to Get Bigger
Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt was quoted as saying that the influx of mobile Internet users is ramping at a rate 8x faster than the initial influx that we saw with the desktop computer.In the coming months and years, mobile is going to play a much larger role for ecommerce websites, as security and technology evolves to make mobile online shopping more user friendly and more secure.
Forrester Research projects an increase from the $8 billion ecommerce dollars spent in 2012 on mobile devices will increase to $31 billion by 2017, an increase of 3% to 9% of all ecommerce sales.
If your company is spending valuable marketing budget in a search engine optimization campaign, these statistics can't be ignored. The significance of mobile Internet is only going to grow, and if your company wants to get the most out of its online marketing strategy, having a mobile-friendly website is a necessary step in the right direction.
